The Flash — “King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd” — Image Number: FLA515b_0253b.jpg — Pictured: Tom Cavanagh as Sherloque Wells — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

Please Keep In Mind That This Article Contains Potential Spoilers For “King Shark Vs. Gorilla Grodd” and Events That Occurred Prior

Finally, the much teased showdown is here! A battle between giants: King Shark Vs. Gorilla Grodd.

Sadly, that’s about all the episode offers. It is fun at the very least to see these villains that we don’t get the chance to see often due to financial challenges of the show. Even more exciting is seeing both Grodd and King Shark in the same frame with each other. And while that may be all the episode really had to offer—it was great fun nonetheless. The team behind the VFX continued their fantastic job (within TV standards of course—this isn’t a blockbuster film), and the big brawl didn’t disappoint. It’s a miracle that such a scene even gets to exist in any form, so that alone was worth watching this week’s installment.

When it came to King Shark, the show attempted to give him a deeper backstory, as well as to create a bond between Tanya and himself. While the idea was nice, the execution fell flat. Most of it consisted of cliched, clunky dialogue—and neither actors helped to sell what they were given. So it was a nice thought, but their life troubles will be forgotten fairly quickly.

The Flash — “King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd” — Image Number: FLA515b_0024b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen and Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon — Photo: Shane Harvey/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

As always, it’s great to see Grodd. He doesn’t really elevate himself much above his past appearances—but we see so little of him at this point that even more of the same is enough to satisfy the urge for more of his shenanigans. I know he’s expensive, but the show really should consider fully focusing on him as a full time villain, with the big overarching season plan. I mean he’s been around in the background for five years now, could make for a good decision—not to mention that he’s worthy of it.

Arguably the only other noteworthy events in this episode was the ethical dilemma of how and when to use the cure. Mainly consent vs. the weaponization of such an ability. It does the story well to focus on the third behind this new tool in their arsenal—making it clear that Team Flash shouldn’t go around playing God. Now when it came to Barry posing the idea of using the cure against Cicada…I thought this was already the plan? To develop the cure to then weaken/save Cicada and possibly his daughter. But it certainly seemed like a new idea for the team, so there’s a good chance I was just reading into it incorrectly. However, it’s important to note: why would Cicada give up his only weapon in his war against meta humans? I again want to point out that at no point do I think a simple conversation or action will be the solution to their problems. I mean, had they actually been used their wits, Team Flash could already have had Cicada in custody at this point.

The Flash — “King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd” — Image Number: FLA515a_0303b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jesse L. Martin as Detective Joe West and Candice Patton as Iris West – Allen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

“King Shark Vs. Gorilla Grodd” was a fun and entertaining installment to watch—but it certainly never rose much further than that. It would seem that King Shark, even if stuck in that form permanently, is now a bonfires good guy (for better or worse). At the very least Grodd is still out there, and we can rest easy knowing he’ll make his annual appearance again.

You can catch new episodes of The Flash when they air on The CW network every Tuesday at 8pm EST